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FLAMENCO-WORLD.COM TOP 10 2005
Safe bets
Flamenco-world.com, December 2005
Flamenco was once again ruled by its key figures
in 2005. Vicente
Amigo and Diego
el Cigala have shot to the top of the charts compiled
by Flamenco-world.com based on their sales figures. The newcomer
of the year was La Tana, a cantaora with the backing of none
other than Paco de Lucía. Jorge Pardo's ‘Vientos
flamencos’ have revived interest in instrumental flamenco.
These have also been months for revisiting classic, established
cantaores such as Enrique Morente and José Menese.
And a time to discover what the producer of the moment has
to offer on the new label Casa Limón. Of course, Camarón
de la Isla is still a bestselling artist. The list of DVDs
is a mixture of vintage recordings, the live shows of top
artists and instructional dance and guitar materials. In general,
it was a moderate year in terms of the number of releases,
and with few risks taken, concentrating more on names with
a proven track record than on new artists or musical offerings.
| CDs. Flamenco-world.com
Top 10 of 2005 |
Vicente Amigo, Diego el Cigala and La Tana
take the first, second and third slots respectively in the
Flamenco-world.com Top 10 sales list for 2005. Two key figures
in contemporary guitar and cante, plus a newcomer - a vocalist
who's been taken under the wing of Paco de Lucía himself
- make up the top three. Vicente Amigo made a triumphant return
to the marketplace, five years after his previous album, with
‘Un
momento en el sonido’, a further step along the
personal path he's carved out during his career. Diego el
Cigala, on the other hand, took advantage of the international
success of the ‘crossover’ with Bebo Valdés,
‘Lágrimas
negras’, to return to flamenco, using Picasso as
a theme and the exceptional guitars of Paco de Lucía
and Tomatito to reach audiences by the most direct route.
The appearance of La Tana with ‘Tú,
ven a mí’ was a lesson in cante flamenco,
following in the same line as Camarón, and providing
an incentive to draw a new wave of young fans to the genre.
Evidently the fact that she has the backing of Paco de Lucía,
producer of the album, influenced the success of one of the
few fresh offerings of the season.
La Tana (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)
His disciples aside, Camarón de la Isla himself continues
to be a safe bet for flamenco-lovers. On the one hand, the
public accepted with open arms the vocalist's previously unreleased
recordings from his youth on ‘Camarón
en la Venta de Vargas’, which made the fourth place
on the Flamenco-world.com chart. Meanwhile, in tenth place
we have the soundtrack from the movie directed by Jaime Chávarri
on the now legendary artist, ‘Camarón,
la película (Original Motion Picture)’, although
this is another compilation of his work to add to the long
list. And needless to say that the repackaging of the ‘Integral’
complete box-set of Camarón's work, and the reissue
of all of his albums in cardboard covers with updated booklets
has served to boost the sales of the ubiquitous legacy of
the legendary cantaor.
As for instrumental music, ‘Vientos
flamencos’ by Jorge Pardo has intrigued flamenco-lovers,
reaching fifth place on the list. The original feature of
this item is that it's had successful sales figures both in
terms of MP3 downloads available on the new website Flamencodigital.com,
and in CD format. The saxophonist's album is followed by a
sampler from the label Casa Limón, put together by
the flavor of the moment among flamenco producers, Javier
Limón. Guest artists such as Paco de Lucía,
Tomatito, Niño Josele, Duquende and Montse Cortés
lend substance to a collective recording that gives a taste
of albums in the pipeline for the next season. Just bubbling
under the Top 10 were Armenian violinist Ara Malikian and
guitarist José Luis Montón with ‘De
la felicidad’, an album that wallows in musical
fusion in the wake of ‘Manantial’. The same fate
befell the new album ‘Pokito a poko’ by Chambao,
a group whose success has been earned by labeling themselves
‘flamenco chill’.
The classics of cante have also enjoyed widespread popularity.
There are two veterans with new projects in sixth and seventh
places respectively: Enrique Morente with ‘Morente
sueña La Alhambra’ and José Menese
with ‘A
mis soledades voy’. The Granada-born cantaor has
created an album as original as it is orthodox, based on the
soundtrack from the film of the same name, with first-rate
contributors including Pat Metheny, Juan Habichuela and Tomatito.
As for José Menese, he took a traditional repertoire
- based on poems from Spain's Golden Age - to the recording
studio, after several seasons of touring. As an extra sweetener,
it's accompanied by a DVD of the live act recorded at the
2004 Festival Bienal de Sevilla. Just pipped to the number
ten slot was another tried and tested artist: El Lebrijano.
His album ‘Puertas abiertas’ takes a further step
in his adventures with the Andalusí music he's been
performing since ‘Encuentro’.
Sara Baras on 'Iberia' by Carlos
Saura
As we've seen from examples like ‘Camarón, the
Movie - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’ and ‘Morente
sueña La Alhambra’, during 2005 the film industry
has had its impact on the record-buying public. This is also
the case with the soundtrack to ‘Iberia’
by Carlos Saura, with a spectacular line-up of artists and
creations made-to-measure for the film using Isaac Albéniz's
compositions as a starting point. All indications are that
it'll become a ‘classic’ on sales lists, just
as the original soundtrack from the hugely famous film ‘Flamenco’
has been ever since its release. Connected with this type
of albums in terms of the variety of their content are the
compilations, of which over these last twelve months the vitality
of the series ‘Pa saber de flamenco’ can't be
ignored, with a third volume added and another specializing
in guitar.
Sadly, several new albums whose release dates have been delayed
didn't make the list, such as ‘Mi forma de vivir’
by Duquende and ‘Techarí’ by Ojos de Brujo.
Although these are among those sure to find a place in the
Top 10 for 2006, a year which should also see new releases
from José Mercé, Arcángel, Miguel Poveda,
Juan Diego and, perhaps, Estrella Morente. Let's hope.
Continues
>>
magazine@flamenco-world.com
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